Dehumidifier

ABSTRACT

[PROBLEMS] To improve efficiency in heat exchange to improve dehumidifying efficiency of the air to be dehumidified 
     [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] A dehumidifier includes a means for sucking the air of interest and absorbing moisture in the air and a means for heat exchange for the relatively high temperature air containing the moisture by means of relatively low temperature air sucked from a route different from the air suction route of the air to be dehumidified.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a dehumidifier, and in particular, it is related to a dehumidifier that efficiently dehumidifies indoor air.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Patent Document 1 discloses a dehumidifier that comprises a first fan that sucks the air to be dehumidified into the body and transfers this air to a rotatable moisture-absorbing rotor via one of the passages of a sensible heat exchanger and then exhausts the air dehumidified by the moisture-absorbing rotor to the outside of the body, a second fan that transfers air heated by a heater to the above-mentioned moisture-absorbing rotor so that the moisture-absorbing rotor is reproduced by evaporating the moisture of the moisture-absorbing rotor and also transfers the highly humidified air to the other passage of the above-mentioned sensible heat exchanger to generate condensation inside the sensible heat exchanger and then circulates it to the moisture-absorbing rotor again via the heater, and a means for collecting the condensed water that has been condensed inside the above-mentioned sensible heat exchanger.

This dehumidifier exhausts the sucked indoor air to the outside via the sensible heat exchanger and the moisture-absorbing rotor. The circulated air inside the dehumidifier flows in a cycle of the heater, the moisture-absorbing rotor, and then the sensible heat exchanger.

Patent Document 1: JPB2819497

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

However, the dehumidifier disclosed in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement in the heat exchange efficiency. If the heat exchange is not carried out efficiently, dehumidifying efficiency of the air to be dehumidified is limited. The sensible heat exchanger is placed in front of the moisture-absorbing rotor in terms of the flow passage of the air to be dehumidified, and there is almost no distance between the sensible heat exchanger and the moisture-absorbing rotor, and thus the cooling efficiency of the sensible heat exchanger is limited, resulting in a small amount of water being removed.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to improve efficiency in heat exchange to improve the dehumidifying efficiency of the air to be dehumidified.

Means of Solving the Problem

In order to solve the above problem, the dehumidifier according to the present invention comprises a means for sucking the air to be dehumidified and absorbing moisture in said air, and a means for heat exchange for the relatively-high-temperature air containing the moisture by means of relatively-low-temperature air sucked from a route different from the air suction route of the air to be dehumidified.

Specifically, this dehumidifier comprises, as an example, a first fan that sucks the air to be dehumidified, and a second fan that sucks the relatively-low-temperature air. However, this dehumidifier further comprises a third fan that transfers the relatively-high-temperature air to the means for heat exchange. In this case, all fans may be rotated by a single motor so that the dehumidifier allows for saving space. Furthermore, having a defining part that defines the flow passage of the relatively-low-temperature air allows further improvement in the heat exchange efficiency.

EMBODYMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter. FIG. 1 shows a side view of a typical internal configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a side view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a section view between A-A indicated in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 shows a section view between B-B indicated in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 also indicates a typical air flow with arrows.

FIG. 1 and others show rotor motor 1, rotor wheel 2, rotor wheel 3, PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater cover 4, fan case 5, front fan 6, fan fixing plate 7, intermediate fan 8, exhaust duct 9, lower heat exchanger holder 10, AC motor 11, rotor case cover 12, rotor case 13, moisture-absorbing rotor 14, PTC heater 15, rotor case 16, ventilating duct 17, fan fixing plate 18, fan case 19, upper heat exchanger holder 20, heat exchanger case 21, heat exchanger pipes 22, motor case 23, fan case 24, rear fan 25 and fan case cover 26, which will be explained below.

For the convenience of explanation, each component is sequentially described as referring to FIG. 5.

The rotor case 13 is provided in the upstream of the suction of the air to be dehumidified. The rotor case 13 together with the rotor case 16 forms a case that contains the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. The rotor case 13 is provided with an opening part that corresponds to the sucking position of the air to be dehumidified in the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. Specifically, this opening part is formed in a sector shape with, for example, about ⅔ of the area of the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. The rotor case 13 is also provided with a protruding part extending towards the outside of the circular arc from both sides of the circular arc of the opening part. This protruding part is a part that transfers the circulated air inside the dehumidifier to the heat exchanger case 21, wherein the circulated air is heated in the PTC heater 15 and then passes through the moisture-absorbing rotor 14.

The rotor case cover 12 is integrally formed with the above-mentioned protruding part and is mounted to the part perpendicular to the plane direction of the rotor case cover 12 by means of screw fixation etc.

The rotor motor 1 is a motor to rotate the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. Although the rotor motor 1 is provided at the lower part of the rotor case 13 in this embodiment, the location of the rotor motor 1 shall not be limited to this location. It is also possible to rotate the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 by means of the weight of the moisture sucked by the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 without using the rotor motor 1.

The rotor wheel 2 together with the rotor wheel 3 forms a wheel that contains the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. The rotor wheel 2 has a size corresponding to the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 and has, for example, a ring shape with six spokes. The peripheral part of the rotor wheel 2 is notched to form teeth and is configured to engage with a gear that is connected to the rotor motor 1. Therefore, driving the rotor motor 1 results in the rotation of the moisture-absorbing rotor 14.

Likewise the rotor wheel 2, the rotor wheel 3 has, for example, a ring shape with six spokes. The rotor wheels 2 and 3 interpose the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 therebetween and define the position of the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 inside the dehumidifier. The peripheral part of the rotor wheel 3 is provided with, for example, four joining parts in order to join with the rotor wheel 2.

As described above, the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 is positioned by the rotor wheels 2 and 3, and is made rotatable about the central axis together with the rotor wheels 2 and 3. The moisture-absorbing rotor 14 receives the air to be dehumidified that has been sucked through the opening part of the rotor case 13, and absorbs the moisture in this air. The moisture-absorbing rotor 14 may be those impregnated or coated with a moisture-absorbing or moisture-adsorbing substance such as calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, lithium chloride, silica gel, aluminum hydroxide, molecular sieves, talc, xonotlite, magnesium silicate, and pulp etc.

The rotor case 16 is provided with an opening part at the location corresponding to the opening part of the rotor case 13. In addition, the rotor case 16 is provided with a passage for the circulated air that circulates inside the dehumidifier at the location corresponding to the previously-mentioned protruding part of the rotor case 13.

The PTC heater 15 is attached to the inside of the passage for the circulated air that is formed in the rotor case 16. The PTC heater 15 is a heater having a temperature control function. The basic principle of the PTC heater 15 is to stop heat generation due to increase in resistance by a temperature rise and to resume heat generation due to decrease in resistance by a temperature fall. However, it is not essential to provide the PTC heater 15. Since the intention to provide the PTC heater 15 is to realize heat exchange with the heat exchanger pipes 22, the dehumidification is also possible by using, for example, a chiller to cool the cooling air that is transferred to the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The PTC heater cover 4 is to fix the PTC heater 15 (that is attached to the inside of the passage of the circulated air in the rotor case 16) to the rotor case 16.

The ventilating duct 17 is a duct to let the above-mentioned circulated air through to the PTC heater 15. The ventilating duct 17 is mounted onto the opening part of the above-mentioned passage of the rotor case 16. The circulated air passing through the ventilating duct 17 is heated by the PTC heater 15.

The fan case 5 is a case for the front fan 6. The fan case 5 is provided with an opening part with a size corresponding to the front fan 6. The dehumidified air passes through the gap between the fan case 5 and the front fan 6, and is then exhausted to the outside of the dehumidifier via an exhaust opening (not shown).

The front fan 6 is to suck the air to be dehumidified into the dehumidifier. Although the dehumidifier according to this embodiment comprises three fans including the front fan 6, intermediate fan 8 and rear fan 25, the diameter of the front fan 6 is the smallest. One of the reasons why each of the fans 6, 8 and 25 has a different diameter is that this embodiment uses one motor (AC motor 11) to rotate the total of three fans 6, 8 and 25. The details of this aspect will be described later.

The fan fixing plate 18 is a plate to link the front fan 6 with the AC motor 11. Specifically, the fan fixing plate 18 is provided with a hole in the central part, and the front fan 6 is linked with the AC motor 11 while a shaft that is connected to the AC motor 11 is put through this hole.

The intermediate fan 8 is to suck the cooling air from the outside of the dehumidifier in order to cool the heat exchanger pipes 22. The intermediate fan 8 is the largest in diameter in comparison with the front fan 6 and rear fan 25, and also has a reasonable fan thickness (the length from left to right in FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate fan 8 is provided adjacent to the heat exchanger pipes 22 in a manner that its central axis is perpendicular to the axial direction of each pipe of the heat exchanger pipes 22. Therefore, the cooling air can be efficiently let through between the pipes of the heat exchanger pipes 22. The reason why the diameter of the intermediate fan 8 is larger than the diameter of the front fan 6 is that the volume of cooling air to be sucked and exhausted for the heat exchanger pipes 22 is required to be more than the volume of sucking and exhausting the air to be dehumidified. Thus, this embodiment allows improvement in the heat exchange efficiency.

The fan fixing plate 7 is a plate to link the intermediate fan 8 with the AC motor 11. Specifically, the fan fixing plate 7 is provided with a hole in the central part, and the intermediate fan 8 is linked with the AC motor 11 while a shaft that is connected to the AC motor 11 is put through this hole.

The fan case 19 is a case that contains both front fan 6 and intermediate fan 8. The fan case 19 is divided into a containing part for the front fan 6 and a containing part for the intermediate fan 8 so that the air to be dehumidified and the cooling air for the heat exchanger pipes 22 do not mix with each other. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the fan case 19 is provided at the end with the defining part 19A that defines the wind direction so that the cooling air for cooling the heat exchanger pipes 22 efficiently hits the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The heat exchanger case 21 is provided at the upper part of the heat exchanger pipes 22, thereby the circulated air that has been made high-temperature and high-humidity by passing through the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 is transferred to the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The upper heat exchanger holder 20 is linked with the upper side of the heat exchanger pipes 22. Specifically, the upper heat exchanger holder 20 is provided with a plurality of holes with which each pipe of the heat exchanger pipes 22 is linked. The circulated air transferred through the heat exchanger case 21 is further transferred to the heat exchanger pipes 22 through these holes. The upper heat exchanger holder 20 is provided for the same purpose as that of the defining part 19A so that the cooling air efficiently hits the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The heat exchanger pipes 22 are to transfer the heat energy of the high-temperature and high-humidity circulated air to the low-temperature cooling air that has been taken into the dehumidifier by rotating the intermediate fan 8. The circulated air is cooled down as it passes through the heat exchanger pipes 22, and some of it is condensed within each pipe.

The lower heat exchanger holder 10 is linked with the lower side of the heat exchanger pipes 22. Specifically, the lower heat exchanger holder 10 is provided with a plurality of holes with which each pipe of the heat exchanger pipes 22 is linked. The circulated air that has been cooled down by the heat exchanger 26 is transferred to the exhaust duct 9. The lower heat exchanger holder 10 is provided for the same purpose as that of the defining part 19A so that the cooling air efficiently hits the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The exhaust duct 9 exhausts the circulated air passed through the lower heat exchanger holder 10 towards the rear fan 25, while draining the condensed water within the pipes of the heat exchanger pipes 22 to a container (not shown).

The AC motor 11 is to rotate each of the front fan 6, intermediate fan 8 and rear fan 25. However, instead of rotating the front fan 6, intermediate fan 8 and rear fan 25 with a single AC motor, a plurality of AC motors may be used to rotate those.

The motor case 23 is a case to contain the AC motor 11. Specifically, the motor case 23 is provided with a depressed part corresponding to the size of the AC motor 11 and an opening part through which a shaft that is connected to the AC motor 11 is put. The AC motor is contained inside this depressed part and is fixed to the motor case 23 by means of screw fixation etc. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the motor case 23 is provided at the end with the defining part 23A that defines the wind direction so that the cooling air for cooling the heat exchanger pipes 22 efficiently hits the heat exchanger pipes 22. The motor case 23 may be provided with an opening part at the part covering the outer circumference of the AC motor 11 so that the outside air is let through to cool down the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The fan case 24 is a case to contain the rear motor 25. The fan case 24 is provided with an opening part that receives the depressed part of the motor case 23. In addition, the top part of the fan case 24 is provided with an opening part that is linked with the ventilating duct 17 and through which the circulated air that has been transferred from the rear fan 25 side is transferred to the ventilating duct 17.

The rear fan 25 is a fan that realizes said circulation of the circulated air inside the dehumidifier. The rear fan 25 is larger than the front fan 6 in terms of diameter, but not as large as the intermediate fan 8. The diameters of the fans 6, 8 and 25 are set to, for example, 158 mm, 208 mm and 188 mm respectively. In this case, although the ratio of the diameters of the fans 6, 8 and 25 is set to 1:1.37 :1.19, it may be appropriately determined within the range of 1:1.2-1.4:1.1-1.3 as an example. The widths of the fans 6, 8 and 25 are set to 30 mm, 34 mm and 23 mm respectively. In this case, although the ratio of the widths of the fans 6, 8 and 25 is set to 1:1.13:0.77, it may be appropriately determined within the range of 1:1.1-1.3:0.7-0.9 as an example.

The fan fixing plate 27 is a plate to link the rear fan 25 with the AC motor 11. Specifically, the fan fixing plate 27 is provided with a hole in the central part, and the rear fan 25 is linked with the AC motor 11 while a shaft that is connected to the AC motor 11 is put through this hole.

The fan case cover 26 is a cover mounted onto the fan case 24 by means of screw fixation etc. in a manner that the rear fan 25 is interposed therebetween.

Next, the air flow during the operation of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1 is explained. First, an explanation is made regarding the air to be dehumidified.

When the dehumidifier is powered on, the rotor motor 1 and AC motor 11 drive. Accordingly, the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 starts rotating, and each of the fans 6, 8 and 25 starts rotating. In addition, the PTC heater 15 is powered and thus the heat generation starts.

When the front fan 6 rotates, it tries to exhaust the air inside the dehumidifier, and thus the air around the dehumidifier, that is the air to be dehumidified, results in being sucked into the dehumidifier. Specifically, the air to be dehumidified is sucked into the dehumidifier through the opening part of the rotor case 13.

Subsequently, the air to be dehumidified passes through between the spokes of the rotor wheel 2 and reaches the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. As a result of this, the moisture in the air to be dehumidified is absorbed by the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. As described above, since the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 is rotated by driving the rotor motor 1, the moisture-absorbing part of the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 moves towards the PTC heater 15.

In contrast, the air that has been dehumidified by passing through the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 passes the rotor case 16 through between the spokes of the rotor wheel 3 and reaches the front fan 6. The air that has been dehumidified is exhausted to the outside of the dehumidifier by the rotation of the front fan 6. The air to be dehumidified results in being dehumidified by the process described above.

In addition, since the rear fan 25 is rotated by driving the AC motor 11, the circulation of the circulated air inside the dehumidifier is realized. Furthermore, the PTC heater 15 is powered so that the circulated air is heated. High-temperature and low-humidity air that has been heated by the PTC heater 15 is let through the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. Since the moisture absorbed by the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 is dried by contacting with the high-temperature and low-humidity circulated air, the moisture is removed from the moisture-absorbing rotor 14. Thereby, the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 can absorb the moisture of the air to be dehumidified.

In contrast, the circulated air that has passed through the moisture-absorbing rotor 14 becomes a high-temperature and high-humidity status and then reaches the heat exchanger case 21 via the protruding part of the rotor case 13 and the rotor case cover 12. Further, said circulated air passes through the hole of the upper heat exchanger holder 20 and then proceeds to the heat exchanger pipes 22.

The intermediate fan 8 is rotated by driving the AC motor 11, while the heat exchanger pipes 22 are provided at the location corresponding to the part surrounded by the lower heat exchanger holder 10, upper heat exchanger holder 20, defining part 19A and defining part 23A, and thereby a relatively large volume of air efficiently flows through between the pipes of the heat exchanger pipes 22. Since the temperature of this air is relatively lower than that of the circulated air passing inside the heat exchanger pipes 22, the circulated air results in being cooled down. The reason why the defining part 19A etc. is provided is a relatively high air resistance between the pipes of the heat exchanger pipes 22, and if the defining part 19A etc. is not provided, the volume of the air that avoids the passage between the pipes would increase, resulting in a reduced cooling efficiency in the heat exchanger pipes 22.

This cooling air is sucked from the outside of the dehumidifier on a route different from that of the air to be dehumidified and is exhausted to the outside of the dehumidifier through between the pipes of the heat exchanger pipes 22 on a route different from that of the air to be dehumidified.

The circulated air is heat-exchanged by being cooled down inside the heat exchanger pipes 22. Since some of the circulated air is liquefied by the heat exchange, condensation occurs on the inner walls of the heat exchanger pipes 22. If the condensation exceeds a certain amount, it comes along said inner wall by its own weight and reaches a container through the hole in the lower heat exchanger holder 10 and the exhaust duct 9.

The circulated air that has been cooled down inside the heat exchanger pipes 22 reaches the rear fan 25 through the hole in the lower heat exchanger holder 10 and the exhaust duct 9. Then the circulated air is transferred to the ventilating duct 17 by the rotation of the rear fan 25. Since the ventilating duct 17 is provided with the PTC heater 15, the circulated air is overheated and made in a high-temperature and low-humidity status as described above.

EMBODIMENT

FIG. 6 shows an exploded perspective view of a dehumidifier of an embodiment according to the present invention, and that corresponds to FIG. 5. The dehumidifier shown in FIG. 6 is the same as the one in FIG. 5 except for the following modifications. It is not essential to adopt all of these modifications, and those may be selectively adopted for the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 5.

The fan case 5 and fan case 19 are provided at the top of those with a defining part to define the flow passage for exhausting the post-processed air by rotating the front fan 6. Thereby, the post-processed air and the cooling air to be transferred to the heat exchanger pipes 22 are inhibited from being mixed with each other.

The shape of the rotor case cover 12 has been modified in order to narrow the width dimension (the direction perpendicular to the flow of the air to be processed: the direction towards the depth of the drawing). Specifically, it is formed into a shape that increases the thickness (the direction of the flow of the air to be processed), while the width dimension is narrowed.

In order to prevent a displacement between the PTC heater cover 4 and the PTC heater 15, three ribs, as an example, are added.

The heat exchanger case 21 is provided with screw bosses in the top slope part in order to attach a power supply printed circuit board assembly. The location to attach the power supply printed circuit board assembly shall not be limited to the heat exchanger case 21, and the location may be chosen so that any dead space within the housing of the equipment may be eliminated.

The cooling fan 8A no longer links with the AC motor 11 and instead has a built-in motor etc. separately for driving the cooling fan 8A, wherein the rotation axis is made perpendicular to the intermediate fan 8. As a result of this, the diameter of the cooling fan 8A can be made smaller than the diameter of the intermediate fan 8 so that space-saving can be promoted, and further the direction of the cooling fan 8A is configured to correspond to the flow passage so that the heat exchanger pipes 22 can be efficiently cooled down.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a typical internal configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a section view between A-A indicated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a section view between B-B indicated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the dehumidifier of an embodiment according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

Rotor motor 1, rotor wheel 2, rotor wheel 3, PTC heater cover 4, fan case 5, front fan 6, fan fixing plate 7, intermediate fan 8, exhaust duct 9, lower heat exchanger holder 10, AC motor 11, rotor case cover 12, rotor case 13, moisture-absorbing rotor 14, PTC heater 15, rotor case 16, ventilating duct 17, fan fixing plate 18, fan case 19, upper heat exchanger holder 20, heat exchanger case 21, heat exchanger pipes 22, motor case 23, fan case 24, rear fan 25, and fan case cover 26 

1. A dehumidifier comprising: a means for sucking the air to be dehumidified and absorbing moisture in said air, and a means for heat exchange for the relatively-high-temperature air containing the moisture by means of relatively low temperature air sucked from a route different from the air suction route of the air to be dehumidified.
 2. The dehumidifier as claimed in claim 1, comprising: a first fan that sucks the air to be dehumidified, and a second fan that sucks the relatively-low-temperature air.
 3. The dehumidifier as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a third fan that transfers the relatively-high-temperature air to the means for heat exchange.
 4. The dehumidifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein: each of the air flows is made by rotating a plurality of fans that link with a single motor.
 5. The dehumidifier as claimed in claim 1, comprising: a defining part that defines the flow passage of the relatively-low-temperature air. 